Smooth Operators - (Surgery, Part 2)
OOC: Part 2 of a joint post by Wandering Wolf, Winters, and some hack. “Oh, that's all? No pressure … okay so …” Vas said looking at the image.” … we’re not going to pop the eye out or anything?” The punk asked with an arched eyebrow. He hated being so out of his element, not being able to give any real contribution. He could only follow instruction and trust he was doing it right. Which sucked. Ly listened as Dorian explained in detail the procedure and the goal. She had never done anything like this before; it felt like the last few hours were lived by a stranger who found herself finally slicing flesh and collecting bones from the face of a stranger. “I really hope there’s another way; I’m not sure how I feel about slicing nerves or poking out eyes.” Dorian listened quietly to both Vas and Lyen. Better to let them have their say at this crucial moment instead of forcing them onward. “We’re not removin’ tha eye,” he responded. “We will lift it. We’ll touch it, and then move it upward tah clear so Sistah Lyen can get those fragments and fix tha hole.” He described the steps, Lyen pressing upward with her fingers while Vas slid the “shoe horn” beneath. Then, Vas would hold the eye aloft while the nun grabbed each fragment with a pair of forceps. “Aftah that,” the medic concluded, “y’all patch tha hole, glue tha bone back, and close me up. Ah understand how unnerving this may seem. If y’all don’t think yah can do it, let me know and yah can go. Ah already owe yah so much fah whatcha have done.” “Oh Doc you know just what to say.” Vas teased batting his eyes. “I'm more worried about screwing up but I'm game to save the eye.” Doc has more than enough confidence in them it seemed and Vas was riding that to keep moving forward. “When you're ready?” Vas looked to Lyen. Lyen shook her head. “We’ve come this far, why not see it through, right? This whole day has been one unbelievable journey. But to save your eye I’ll do my best.” She reached for the pair of forceps the doctor had indicated and held them steady in her hand. A strand of hair fell from beneath her cap as she bent toward Dorian’s face. Turning to Vas, “Uhm, would you mind?” Lyen faced Vas and met his blue eyes with her brown ones. Properly tucked, she turned back toward the patient and doctor, “I’m ready.” “Here we go.” Dorian watched both images on the viewscreen. “Sistah,” he began, “as yah fingers are tha smallest, we’ll have yah lift tha eye. One up front, one in back….that’s perfect. Mistah Vas, grab that shoe horn.” On the screen, the ghostly orb in the ultrasound began to move, nudged upward by the nun’s slender fingers. “Now,” Adler said, ease tha shoe horn in between her fingers.” The metal edge was stark in the image, a harsh line of white. “Go on now,” Dorian said, “push all tha way in til yah hit bone.” Vas nudged and cajoled the shoe horn in. Not that the young punk ever had this type of surgery done to him but it must of fell pretty damn weird. Still he remain focused as he slowly worked it in to minimize the discomfort. It worked it till it would go in no further. “And we are all the way in.” Vas announced. “Sistah, yah can withdraw. Now, Mistah Vas, kindly lift until tha eye til it stops at tha roof.” Vas nodded lifting the eye up to give Lyen the room she would need to start the repair work and the removal of the splinters. Hopefully if there was damage to the eye it would be minimal. It was indeed strange, to have her finger inside the socket, to gently lift and feel the slight weight of the eye with her finger tip. When Vas took over, she retrieved her fingers and rubbed them gently together, as if she was measuring the viscosity. It was all surreal. Though he was suitably numbed, Dorian could feel the alien presence of the tool as it probed within his eye socket. The sensation was...disquieting...and most likely buffered by the faculty adjusting presence of Mach. The capture’s image revealed the shoe horn, pushing into his skull to bolster the plump globe of his right eye. Correspondingly, the ultrasound displayed the lift, fuzzing a bit as Vas’ hand trembled. The upward movement of the eye also brought the three offending fragments into sharper definition. Fortunately, none of them had adhered to the eyeball. “Very good,” Dorian said of the work. “Now, Sistah, take a pair of forceps and kindly remove those three bone fragments. Mistah Vas, please move that capture...tah tha right...down a bit...there.” The imagery was crisp. He could see the bottom of the eye socket, and the hole into which the eye had settled. And there, gleaming wetly in the capture’s light, were the three jagged bone chips. Forceps in hand, Ly craned her neck to get the best view of the bone fragments in Dorian’s eye socket. With a slight exhale, she maneuvered the instrument tenderly into the gap and removed the first bone which clinked in the metal pan to her left. The second and, finally, the third fragment also followed suit, and Lyen let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in. The real threat now eliminated, it was time for the final repairs. “Mistah Vas,” Dorian asked, “yah doin’ alright? We’ll need yah tah hold tha eye up fah another few minutes.” “No worries Doc I can do this all day if I have to.” Vas assured the Doc keeping his hand still to prevent any jiggle or slippage. “Now,” Adler continued, “yah see that small piece of mesh? We’re gonna glue it over tha hole in tha orbital floor. Sistah, if yah would, put a few drops of that surgical glue around tha edges. ‘Bout thirty seconds after tha glue hits air, it’ll cauterize tha mesh ta tha bone. Yah’ll see a small puff of smoke. When yah done, use forceps tah lay it in right inta place.” With the doctor’s guidance, Ly followed his direction through a more complicated portion of the procedure. As he spoke, she picked up the glue and mesh and positioned it carefully. The mesh itself felt flimsy and light, but she believed that it was misleadingly effective for the task at hand. It fit perfectly in place. As he watched, the glue suddenly emitted a burst of smoke as it melted the edges of the mest into bone. “Hard work’s ovah,” Dorian said to his two samaritans. “Yah can set tha eye down now. Sistah, we’ll use that same glue tah reset tha zygomatic bone...just like fixin’ a broken handle on a coffee cup,” he chuckled. The operation wasn’t over, but he felt he could relax a bit. On the screen, the eye sat properly in its’ socket. The work, performed by a dentist and two deckhands aboard an aging Firefly, was a decent piece of battlefield surgery. “Perfect,” Dorian said as the bone locked into place. “Now, let’s stitch up tha incision and apply a dressin’.” “No worries Doc. Home stretch.” Vas said, he waited to make sure Lyen was good and done before withdrawing. Doc was till going to need to see a proper Doctor but he was for the most part in a good place. “Live to sharp shoot another day. I hope the ladies aren’t too disappointed, eye patch make for great stories.“ He jibbed. “Oh yes, very attractive. But a dentist with an eye patch is another thing altogether.” She gave a wink before picking up the needle and suture and carefully closing the wound. Being a novice, Ly took her time; this was after all a man’s face, not some garment to darn. Finally finished, clipped, and cleaned, Lyen removed her mask and inspected her work with a ginger finger before picking up a bandage. After a few minutes’ final work and cleanup, Dorian relaxed in the chair. The side of his face was covered in a post op bandage. He’d also covered the right eye to permit its’ own rest. A laundry list of drugs had been taken, both orally and via injection...the last of which being a healthy sedative. “Ah want tah thank y’all,” Dorian offered as the drowsiness overtook him. “Go tell Riley...y’all did well…” His head lolled to one side as he descended into sleep. Vas tsked. “Rest up, won’t be long till we get ourselves to Valentine.” The punk assure covering the man in blanket to keep warm. Maybe when he woke next they could move him to a proper bed. He would make a point to ask Riley about it. In the meantime though Doc deserved a good long rest. Lyen was shaking out her wrists, feeling them cramp. “We’ll have Riley check the wound if she can step away from the cockpit.” Dorian was already probably too out of it to hear her. Removing her gloves and gown, Ly thought a dentist, a punk, and a nun walk into a surgery…